10 Expectations for Tom Thibodeau Now That He's Locked Up by the Chicago Bulls

Head coach Tom Thibodeau has finally, finally signed a contract extension with the Chicago Bulls. And now that he’ll be around in the Windy City for a while, there are several expectations for the defensive guru.

Derrick Rose, the face of the Bulls franchise, will begin the 2012-13 season on the bench recovering from an ACL injury that he suffered during last season’s playoffs.

With Rose expected to miss a huge chunk of the season, Thibodeau will certainly have his work cut out for him as he tries to guide the Bulls to yet another phenomenal performance.

Thibodeau has put together two unbelievable seasons in Chicago, leading the team to the league’s best regular season record both years.

Let's take a look at what fans should expect from Thibs—not just this season, but over the next few years.

The new bench members include the likes of Nate Robinson, Marco Belinelli, Nazr Mohammed, Vladimir Radmanovic and rookie Marquis Teague. This group will join holdovers Taj Gibson—a possible Sixth Man of the Year candidate—and second-year forward Jimmy Butler.

Can Tom Thibodeau get the "Bench Mob 2.0” to gel and help the Bulls win some ball games? Yes, but it’s going to be tough, seeing that there are so many new faces.

Take the Bulls to Several Conference Finals Appearances

Tom Thibodeau led the Bulls to the Eastern Conference finals a couple seasons ago, with the team losing to the Miami Heat in five games.

He has the skills to take his team back to the Conference finals multiple times in the coming years as well due to his phenomenal coaching.

As long as Miami’s roster includes the star-studded Big Three of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh and Derrick Rose can stay injury-free, it certainly isn’t out of the question to see a Bulls-Heat series every year.

Win Another Coach of the Year Award

Tom Thibodeau impressively took home NBA Coach of the Yeah honors his first season as a head coach (2010-11). It was also his first season in Chicago.

He became just the seventh rookie coach in league history to win the award, joining Harry Gallatin, former Bulls coach Johnny "Red" Kerr, Mike Schuler, Larry Bird, Doc Rivers and Rick Carlisle.

Thibodeau finished second in voting behind the San Antonio Spurs’ Gregg Popovich last season.

Don’t be overly surprised to see Thibodeau pick up the award once again in the not-so-distant future.

He simply has a knack for getting teams to overachieve greatly in the regular season, despite injuries to key players. Chicago finished with the league’s best record in each of the past two seasons, although starters Derrick Rose, Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Richard Hamilton all missed time.

Guide the Bulls to an NBA Title

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There’s no way in the world the Bulls can win it all in this season.

Even if Derrick Rose really does return to the lineup by March, he’ll be too rusty to carry the team to a title in June. Next year could be a totally different story, though; as Rose should be 100 percent and back to MVP form.

With that said, Tom Thibodeau should be capable of guiding the Bulls to a title in either 2014 or 2015. Management obviously believes Thibs can help bring banner No. 7 to town, which is why they decided to extend his contract.

Title contenders the last two seasons, the Bulls failed to win it all in 2011, falling to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference finals. And if it wasn’t for Rose’s injury in last season’s playoff opener, who knows if Thibodeau could’ve taken the team to the Promised Land.

Although he hasn’t delivered so far, Thibodeau—one of the best coaches the league has to offer—can definitely get it done. Just give him some time.